Creating Database- links/view

[Jeff_Bouldin]

I am looking for someone that can help build a Airtable database , but before i get started I want to make sure that airtable was able to view/link records similar to the attachement.

@Noamsay
Using the attached screenshot as a example, ideally I would like to select Leona Piper ( on example) and then see the related records ( say Demo, Inc) and then be able to highlight that one and see the related records in a portal/box below that on. Basically, I have links of Artist to Songs, Songs to Songwriter and Songerwriter to Songerwriter who have cowritten together. So all on one form , be able to see list of artist, can filter and select one and see their full list of songs one one tab, and full list of songwriters that have written for them, and select a song and see the list songwriters for that song.

[ScottWorld]

Welcome to the community, @Jeff_Bouldin!

It looks like your screenshot is from FileMaker Pro. (Is that where that screenshot is from?) That sort of interface design is possible with FileMaker, but it is not possible with Airtable, unless you design your own custom web interface that communicates with Airtable through its API.

You could certainly setup the “database structure & relationships” similarly in Airtable (artists to songs, songs to songwriters, songwriters to songwriters), but it wouldn’t look anything at all like your screenshot.

I would suggest looking at FileMaker Pro. I am both a Certified FileMaker Developer and an Airtable Consultant. If you’d like to chat more about FileMaker & Airtable, feel free to contact me through my website at scottworld.com.

[Jeff_Bouldin]

Yes it is from Filemaker Pro, I am trying to determine if I want it done on that or Airtable. I just like being able to see the “linked records/ portals” for each selected record all on one view. So do you recommend Airtable or Filemaker?

[ScottWorld]

Airtable has the very cool ability to click on linked records and “drill down” into the full details of that linked record, and then you can click on a linked record WITHIN that linked record to “drill down” even further. And it’s all natively built into the Airtable interface. It’s really convenient. But it won’t look like your screenshot above — the Airtable interface uses “pop-up windows” (for lack of a better term) that overlap each other.

[Noamsay]

Hi @Jeff_Bouldin,
I second @ScottWorld comment. I would add that you could use a tool like Stacker to build an custom interface on top of your Airtable base rather that creating one from scratch by yourself. Stacker provides a Record list feature. This feature will allow you to display a list of related
records in arecord page. But you can drill down only one level in the same page. In your example, you could display a list of song on the Leona Piper page. But if you want to see the song related songwriters records you’ll have to open the song record in a full page and check out the list of related songwriters record there. Hope that helps !

[Jeff_Bouldin]

Thank you

Very helpful. Does Airtable have the ability to have one level of related records displayed for a selected record on same page without a popup

[ScottWorld]

As I mentioned above, this is not possible with Airtable. You can NOT build custom interfaces in Airtable. As @Noamsay said, you have some flexibility with a tool like Stacker, but still nothing like FileMaker.

FileMaker is an actual database development platform that lets you build custom interfaces. You can NOT build custom interfaces in Airtable.

Once again, your screenshot above is only possible in FileMaker — it is not possible in Airtable.

It sounds like you might benefit by working one-on-one with an expert consultant. My company provides Certified FileMaker Development and Expert Airtable Consulting, and you can learn more about me at scottworld.com.

[Jeff_Bouldin]

Thank you. I understand that the first screenshot is NOT possible at all with Airtable. I was just trying to clarify if Airtable was able to view one level of related , but it appears not.

[ScottWorld]

Nope. I would recommend signing up for a free Airtable trial, so you can see what is possible with Airtable. Airtable gives you the interface, you provide the data.

[Jeff_Bouldin]

I agree and I plan on retaining someone to get this done for me, I was trying to determine if I should have it developed in Filemaker or Airtable.